Chapter 515 514 Tiger Crouching Cannon

Chapter 515 514 Tiger Crouching Cannon

"The Japanese pirates camped at Wudang Mountain and also set up camp at Xucuo."

Tan Lun knew that there were about six thousand Japanese pirates, but they were guarding three places, and he couldn't help but sneer in his heart.

Although this arrangement can resist the Ming army's offensive at all levels, the weakness of dispersed troops is fully exposed.

"Everyone should be aware of the role of firearms in the battle formation. Although the Zhejiang soldiers came from afar, there were many firearms in the camp, which were enough to crush the Japanese pirates on the battlefield.

I decided to use Qi Jiguang's Zhejiang troops as the center for a frontal attack. Yu Dayou, in addition to leading his own troops, also led the navy as the right army to cut off the enemy's retreat at sea. Liu Xian was the left army to flank the Japanese pirates."

Naturally, Tan Lun would not forget the reason why he came here, and immediately assigned combat tasks to compete for Qi Jiguang's credit.

Liu Xian and Yu Dayou below heard Tan Lun's formation and looked at each other helplessly.

In fact, they had already made some guesses when they heard that Tan Lun was rushing to Xinghua Prefecture with the Zhejiang soldiers.

Yu Dayou and Tan Lun only met once, but he knew that when Tan Lun was in Zhejiang, he participated in many battles to encircle and suppress Japanese pirates as the Chief Envoy Si Youshengzheng and as the Deputy Envoy of the Procuratorate Division. Last year in Zhejiang, Tan Lun was also the commander-in-chief of the troops to assist Fujian, and Qi Jiguang led the troops to participate in the war.

There is no doubt that even if he, the deputy commander-in-chief, is present, they will still listen to their civil servants, not to mention that Tan Lun is still the governor of Fujian and is the largest official here.

Even if the imperial court appoints him as the chief military officer of Fujian, he still has to listen to him.

Yu Dayou has learned that in officialdom, the best way to deal with things is to talk less and do more.

Since you can't defeat Tan Lun, just listen.

He thought so, but Liu Xian didn't think so.

He was the commander-in-chief of Guangdong and was temporarily sent to rescue Xinghua Prefecture by Governor Zhang Zhen. He would not stay in Fujian, so he was naturally not afraid of Tan Lun giving him little shoes.

Even if Zhang Zhen had not been able to spare troops and could send two to three thousand troops to reinforce him, he and Yu Dayou would have directly attacked the Xinghua Japanese pirates after joining forces. They would not have to wait for Qi Jiguang's troops to join the battle. A war effort.

After Tan Lun finished speaking, Liu Xian stood up and clasped his fists and said: "Master Tan, the Zhejiang soldiers have come from afar. They are tired and lack horses. In addition, there are many newly recruited soldiers. It seems inappropriate to use them as the middle route."

Qi Jiguang was sitting on the left side of Liu Xian, so he was the next in line. When he heard what Liu Xian said, he felt a little admiration for this general who dared to challenge the civil servants.

Now that Liu Xian has spoken, he will naturally not go over it in such a vague manner. Instead, he will make it clear that he will go back to Guangdong anyway. Who would be afraid of you, a governor who can't beat you with eight poles?

"Lord Tan, you should know that the middle route is a head-on battle with the Japanese pirates. General Qi has too many new soldiers. If there are those who are not determined, they will cause chaos in the battle formation, and the consequences will be unpredictable."

He directly opposed Qi Jiguang's decision to serve as the Chinese Army. This was Liu Xian's decision after careful consideration.

Of the three armies of Liu, Yu, and Qi, Yu Dayou's troops are naturally the strongest. In addition, with the morale boosted by defeating Zhang Lian's rebels, it is most suitable to serve as the central army.

Although Qi Jiguang's troops had many more soldiers and horses than him, they could only be used as troops to cooperate with the Chinese army, arranging on the left and right to attack the Japanese pirates like him.

According to Tan Lun's words, he wanted Qi Jiguang's men to play in the middle and let him and Yu Dayou move to the side to cooperate.

Who doesn't know that the Japanese pirates only go one way when fighting. When they fight with the Ming army, they always rely on bravery to break through directly in the middle.

If Tan Lun's instructions were followed, all the credit for the trouble would lie with Qi Jiguang, and he and Yu Dayou would get nothing at all.

Even if Yu Dayou still has the task of commanding the navy to blockade, but these Japanese pirates are on the shore, what is the use?

However, Liu Xian was not stupid enough to point his nose and scold him, saying that Tan Lun came here just to help Qi Jiguang gain military exploits, using the reason that Qi Jiguang had more recruits.

"Director Liu, I have just said that General Qi's men use firearms more often. This is the only way to fight the Japanese pirates head-on and eliminate them. There is no need to sacrifice the lives of the soldiers to fight the Japanese pirates."

Tan Lun just said lightly.

He had heard clearly when Liu Xian described the situation earlier. Now they had squeezed the Japanese pirates into a half-way, and the men and horses were spread out to prevent any Japanese pirates from breaking out.

Yu Dayou and Liu Xian's troops played the role of blocking the Japanese pirates' breakout route. Otherwise, he would have divided the three groups of troops into the front, middle and rear armies and advanced in layers. By then, the latter two groups would have even less military exploits.

In fact, in many wars, there are such small episodes hidden, either to avoid fighting to preserve strength, or to fight for credit, but none of this will be recorded in the history books.

History books will only record the time, place and characters, as well as who they fought and the outcome of the victory or defeat.

However, what only those involved know is that during the formation of troops, various ministries have begun to fight openly and secretly, just to get the results they want.

In the whole process, nothing else matters. No one will pay attention to who receives preferential treatment and who is wronged.

When Tan Lun came here, he naturally wanted to leave the most glorious achievements in this battle to Qi Jiguang. No matter what Liu Xian and Yu Dayou said, he would not listen.

Moreover, in his opinion, with Qi Jiguang and Yu Dayou participating in the battle, the battle will be won.

With this judgment, what Liu Xian said is actually insignificant.

Seeing Tan Lun's firm gaze, Liu Xian knew that he would not get any favor if he continued to pester.

Zhang Zhen is not here, what else can he say, but he can't fall out.

If a military general and a civil servant fall out, he must have the courage.

Even if the news reached Zhang Nian at this time, Governor Zhang would not look very good.

Not only because he doubted Liu Xian's attitude towards civil servants, but also because he was Liu Xian's backer and it would be difficult to explain in front of his colleagues in the future.

There should be no suspense about victory. As a winner, whatever Tan Lun does is right.

And if he continues to pester and spread the word, it will only mean that he is wrong.

What's more, Yu Dayou didn't say anything at the side, just lowered his head.

Although he was dissatisfied, Liu Xian still clasped his fists at Tan Lun in response, but in his heart, Liu Xian had already made up his mind that this trip was just for fun.

Nearly half of the people around him are his close soldiers and his personal soldiers.

Since you can't get much credit this time, try to avoid excessive casualties and let Qi Jiguang fight.

Later, Tan Lun arranged the attack routes of various ministries on the map, and the three armies attacked. The final target was naturally the last barrier in front of Pinghai Acropolis-Xu Cuowo Chao.

Once you capture this place, you can face off against the Pinghai Acropolis, the last camp of the Japanese pirates.

During the three-arms attack, the role of the navy is also very important.

Because the battlefield is a peninsula, it is also necessary to prevent Japanese pirates from escaping by sea.

Although the monsoon was not good for the navy's voyage, the waterways of Wan'an in the north and Hui'an in the south were not far away, so there was a chance of escape, so Yu Dayou was asked to command the navy to guard against the Japanese pirates' escape.

Among the three generals here, the one who commands the navy is of course Yu Dayou.

Others, even Qi Jiguang, would not worry him.

After setting a time for the troops to enter, it was natural to give the Zhejiang troops who had just arrived three days to repair themselves. On the fourth day, all three armies would go out to encircle and suppress the Japanese pirates.

After leaving the camp, Liu Xian was still a little unconvinced and just glanced at Qi Jiguang contemptuously.

Not only Liu Xian, but Yu Dayou also saw that Qi Jiguang and Tan Lun might have a relationship. Thinking of some of the news he had heard before, he just shook his head, and then he and Liu Xian waited for his own soldiers to bring the horses, and then turned over. Mount your horse, whip up your whip and prepare to leave.

After riding on the war horse, they were much higher than the people around them, and their field of vision was much wider. Liu Xian and Yu Dayou immediately noticed many black artillery placed behind the horses on the right side of the camp.

These artillery pieces are different from the common Ming army firearms. The barrels are short and thick, about two feet long from head to tail. Seven iron hoops are added around the body. The head of the cannon is held up by two iron tiger claws. It looks powerful and majestic. .

It is different from the general cannons and large bowl-mouth blunderbuss that are common in the Ming army.

"Captain Liu, look at that cannon."

Yu Dayou couldn't help but said to Liu Xian.

"That might be the Crouching Tiger Cannon of the Zhejiang Army. I've heard of it before."

Liu Xian stared at the bracket under the cannon and said.

"Tiger Crouching Cannon?"

Yu Dayou asked curiously.

After all, the Tiger Crouching Cannon was not the standard equipment of the Ming Army, at least not at this period.

The artillery of the Ming army was mainly short and thick, with a bowl-shaped barrel, a bowl-mouthed gun with a bulging medicine chamber, and a large straight-cylindrical fire gun, which were various general cannons.

Of course, the most advanced thing the Ming army has now is the Franco machine cannon, which is imitated by the Western Yi. After many actual battles, due to its remarkable effect, the Ordnance Bureau under the jurisdiction of Yu Heng, the Qing Li Department of the Ministry of Industry, and the Military Staff Bureau under the jurisdiction of the inner government began to expand It was cast on a large scale and distributed to all armies.

Of course, the priority is still given to the Nine-Border Town, and the southern guard posts are naturally ranked behind.

Yu Dayou and Liu Xian's army also had several Fran cannons, but more of them were bowl-mouth blunderbuss left over from earlier.

As for general cannons, they are heavier. Most of them are placed at the top of the city and do not move with the army.

The general cannon of the Ming army is actually very similar in appearance to the Hongyi cannon later introduced from the West, but it is much different in size.

I don’t know whether it was a matter of materials, craftsmanship, or craftsmanship. Although many cannons were cast during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, no one developed large-caliber and powerful artillery.

Decades ago, in order to capture Constantinople, the prosperous Ottoman Empire found the Hungarian artillery designer Urban and spent all his money on him to build an artillery that would be very huge even in later generations. -The Urban Cannon, sometimes called the "Turkish Cannon" or the "Dardanelle Cannon".

The gun is 17 feet long (approximately 5.18 meters), weighs 17 tons, has a barrel thickness of 8 inches (approximately 20 centimeters) to withstand the huge impact when firing, and a caliber as high as 30 inches (approximately 762 millimeters). Large enough to hold an adult, the granite shell used weighed 1,500 pounds (approximately 680 kilograms), making it the most powerful firearm of the era.

When a cannon was fired, the earth was turned upside down and the earth was shaken. No matter how strong the city wall was, it was like paper in front of this super large artillery. Wherever the cannonball passed, everything fell apart.

While Liu Xian and Yu Dayou were talking quietly, Qi Jiguang, who was standing behind them, had already stood up and introduced this artillery to them.

Although he knew that Liu and Yu were dissatisfied with him for taking credit, Qi Jiguang would not hide his secrets when faced with this newly developed firearm. Moreover, there was actually nothing to hide about this thing. The craftsman could understand it at a glance.

Liu and Yu are naturally well-informed people. Although they are not as good as professionals, they can roughly judge the use of this weapon based on its appearance.

Today's firearms are indeed too simple.

"As Governor Liu said, this gun is exactly the Tiger Crouching Cannon used extensively in our Zhejiang Army."

Qi Jiguang introduced them when he came up, and kept leading Liu Xian and Yu Dayou over there.

Soon, the three of them had arrived at the cannon, and then they all dismounted and squatted beside the Tiger Crouching Cannon to observe carefully. Qi Jiguang also introduced the characteristics and usage of this artillery.

"The reduced-size general cannon can shoot loose bullets and attack Japanese pirates at close range."

When Yu Dayou heard Qi Jiguang's introduction, his eyes began to shine.

Of course he knew that when fighting Japanese pirates, the Japanese pirates generally used no tactics. They didn't care which way you went, they would just charge all the way and break down the Ming army's defense line, and the Ming army would collapse.

Simple and straightforward.

Using this small cannon and loading it with shotgun shells can create a large area with one shot. It is really a good way to break the situation.

Liu Xian next to him should have heard of it before, but this was the first time he saw the real thing. Through Qi Jiguang's introduction, he could not help but think of the way and effect of using this thing on the battlefield, so he couldn't help but nod.

"Give me two of these cannons, and I'll take them back and let them try them."

Liu Xian said: "If the effect is good, I think we can report it to the imperial court and vigorously promote this cannon."

"It's a pity that reloading is not easy."

Yu Dayou just sighed.

In fact, except for the Franco machine gun, the loading of the Ming army's firearms was not very good.

But those firearms are released when the enemy is at a slight distance, so there is still a chance for a second or even third round.

But this Tiger Crouching Cannon is mainly used in close combat. It has no chance to reload for you. After another round, it is almost a disposable consumable on the battlefield.

If you win, you can naturally recycle it. If you lose, the cannon belongs to someone else.

"Actually, I heard about this cannon from a friend. I later modified it slightly."

Qi Jiguang saw that both of them were interested, so he spoke again.

If some things were not mentioned earlier, if word spread in the future, someone would inevitably say that he was greedy for merit and was a solitary eater.

"Oh? Are there similar artillery pieces there?"

Liu Xianqi said.

"There is one in the Jiujiang Guards in Jiangxi Province. My friend serves in the Nanjing Ministry of War. A few years ago, he was ordered to go to the various guard posts in Jiangxi and discovered this thing. It is said that a Qianhu invented this thing after fighting Japanese pirates.

But they were temporarily transferred to Zhejiang at that time, and they didn't do many external transfers after that, so it didn't spread.

He also made an inspection and found that after having people test the cannon, he felt that the effect was good, so he paid attention to this matter and wrote to me to inform me. "

Qi Jiguang smiled and explained the original origin of this cannon.

However, Yu Dayou frowned slightly, somewhat doubting whether the Qianhu he was talking about was from the Wei family.

However, when I think of Wei Meng and Wu Zhankui, they all look like they are not seeking to make progress, and they are too lazy to express their guesses.

In Yu Dayou's view, a man who is born in the world should do something great. Wu Zhankui and Wei Meng are obviously capable, but they are a little greedy and afraid of death. They would rather stay in their own one-third of an acre and not move. I just want to pass on my family's protection, and there's really nothing to say.