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Volume 1: Fierce Battle in Changsha Chapter 18: At Tianxin Pavilion

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    A crisp roar sounded, and the corridor to the west of Tianxin Pavilion was filled with gunpowder smoke. Dozens of shotguns were lowered in rows. More than ten people from the Taiping Army and Qing Army who were fighting bloody battles on the city wall were shot and fell to the ground.

    There were always one or two hundred people on the city wall, but the pellets shot by dozens of shotguns only hit a dozen people. This hit rate is hard to compliment, because the firearms of the Qing army at this time were mainly shotguns and carrying guns.  The quality of the shotguns is relatively poor, with uneven barrel thickness and uneven barrel widths.  If the barrel is wide, the ejection will be weak and it will not fly far; if the barrel is thin, it will explode easily and injure the shooter, so soldiers of the Qing army are often reluctant to use it.

    At that time, the Qing army was more willing to practice safe bows and arrows, and generally did not dare to operate muskets with explosive chambers. Soldiers tried to avoid serving as musketeers, and musketeers were unwilling to train with live ammunition. For safety reasons, officers rarely conducted live ammunition shooting.  This type of musket not only has the risk of exploding the barrel, but also leaks gunpowder gas without exception. Sparks will splash onto the hands and face, so the gunners "close their eyes, turn their heads, and shrink their necks" when firing. This kind of shooting method can hit the target.  A miracle.

    Furthermore, the number of firearms equipped by the Qing army was not large. Ordinary green camp soldiers and horses were not allowed to be equipped with them at all. Only in some important military areas, border fortresses and provincial capitals, 40 to 60% of the troops and horses were equipped with firearms.  Since the Taiping Army broke out in Guangxi, the Qing government has strictly ordered several provinces adjacent to Guangxi to organize their military equipment. However, the governors and governors of each province suffered from insufficient money and food, so sophisticated weapons and firearms could only be concentrated in the provincial capitals.  When the Yunnan-Guizhou soldiers entered several small places, the yamen were filled with old weapons, and firearms were not seen at all. In fact, they were all gathered in Changsha, the provincial capital, under the order of Luo Bingzhang, the governor of Hunan.

    "Come here and fight with me!" Li Yiwen rolled on the spot, dodged the bullets flying in the sky, roared loudly and led more than ten Taiping troops into the tower of Tianxin Pavilion. He knew that he must kill them.  The Qing troops upstairs, otherwise Qing Yao fired arrows instead of muskets, and dozens of his men would have suffered heavy losses.

    After the volley of guns was put down, it did not cause much trouble to the Taiping Army, but it dealt a fatal blow to the stubborn Qing army on the city wall. "Poke in the butt, I am fighting hard below, which bastard is firing a gun up there?" "Quickly retreat!"  , the people above are even killing their own people!" The hundreds of Qing troops at the top of the city could hardly withstand the Taiping Army's ferocious attacks. The accidental injuries from the muskets upstairs made the Qing troops even more frightened, and they began to retreat towards the east wall.

    Li Yiwen led his men to the attic. The Qing troops upstairs were mostly equipped with firearms and bows and arrows, which were useless when the enemy got close. After being rushed to kill by Li Yiwen and others, most of the dozens of Qing troops upstairs were killed.  Everyone fell to the ground begging for mercy and surrender.

    When the Qing army's flag was thrown down from Tianxin Pavilion, Li Yiwen saw the Qing army's flag also falling from Kuixing Tower in the distance. It seemed that Lin Qirong had also succeeded. The two men each led a hundred men and defeated the two  There are more than two hundred Qing troops on this high ground. In addition to the commanding talents of the two men, the key point is that the Taiping Army's combat effectiveness greatly exceeds that of the Qing Army's decadent Green Camp troops.

    The combat effectiveness of the Taiping Army in the early days was indeed very strong. Against the Qing army, they were often able to defeat the larger forces with less in hand-to-hand combat. At the beginning of their missionary work, Gain worshiped the Catholic Church and gathered followers in the name of opening a museum to teach martial arts.  In the early days, Hong Xiuquan and Feng Yunshan established four grand halls in Jintian, Zijingshan, and Lin Chang'ao, Huazhou, Pingnan. In addition, they also set up grand halls in Guixian, Luchuan and other places.  These taught martial arts to the public during the day, and conducted evangelism and secretly forged weapons at night. Among them, the Jintian Grand Hall was hosted by Wei Changhui, the Lin Chang'ao Grand Hall was hosted by Hu Yihuang, and the Luchuan Grand Hall was hosted by the boxer Lai Jiu.

    Therefore, the early soldiers of the Taiping Army practiced martial arts all year round. In addition, Guangxi had few mountains and highlands, life was difficult, and the folk customs were very fierce. Many of the Hakka people in Guangxi worshiped God and were often bullied by the natives. The two sides fought with each other all the year round. Therefore, the Taiping Army  They were both farm men who were accustomed to fighting. They were naturally much more powerful than the Green Camp soldiers who smoked, gambled and neglected to train all year round. That was why Lin and Li were able to quickly defeat the Qing army and seize Tianxin Pavilion and Kuixing Tower.  .

    While the Taiping Army officers and soldiers were cheering at Tianxin Pavilion, Li Yiwen raised his eyes and looked into Changsha City. He saw densely packed Qing troops on the street coming from the south gate. There were also Qing soldiers on the streets and alleys.  The troops came out, at least two to three thousand people, but the Qing army moved very slowly. Li Yiwen even saw the Qing generals beating the soldiers violently. Under the pressure of the Shangguan, the driven soldiers moved forward slowly.  move.

    Looking outside the city, the cavalry of the Western King Xiao Chaogui had already crossed the Golden Rooster Bridge, and six hundred cavalry were about to enter the city. Li Yiwen became a little worried. After the cavalry entered the city, the streets in the city were narrow, which was not conducive to the cavalry charging and galloping. The number of Qing troops increased.  If there are too many, the cavalry will become easy targets for spears and bows if they are blocked on the road.

    Li Yiwen wiped the blood on his face, pulled a Taiping soldier over and shouted loudly: "Hurry up and stop His Highness the King of the West at the South Gate. Tell His Highness that the clear demon brigade is attacking towards the South Gate. The cavalry is on the street."  Since we can't use it at all, let the King of the West postpone the assault until we can set up cannons to coax him.After firing the cannon and defeating the clear demon, the King of the West can lead the cavalry to gallop!  "

    After the Taiping soldier took the order, Li Yiwen looked at the more than ten cannons of various types on the Tianxin Pavilion city wall with their muzzles facing outside the city, and shouted sternly: "Tear down the cannons, Qingyao is coming to kill them, let's set them up  Damn it with cannon!¡±

    There are more than ten cannons of various kinds in the small Tianxin Pavilion. In fact, the artillery casting technology of the Qing army is not backward. One year after the Opium War started, a wave of cannon casting was launched in various parts of the country. The scene was like a great forging of later generations.  Like steel.  Ding Gongchen, a native of Quanzhou, Fujian, made an iron cannon with good performance in Guangzhou by referring to the structure of Western cannon.  In 1841, he compiled "Illustrated Theory of Artillery Performance". In 1842, "Illustrated Theory of Artillery Performance" attracted the attention of Yishan, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi and General Jingni.  In the same year, the Qing government ordered the promotion of the method described in "Illustrated Theory of Cannon Performance".

    However, the "Pictures on Cannon Practice" promotes the traditional clay mold casting method. The cannons often have honeycomb holes, which are easy to explode when fired; the efficiency is very low; the cannon bore cannot be processed in depth, causing the cannonballs to be fired after being fired.  , ballistic disorder.

    At this time, another outstanding person appeared. Gong Zhenlin, the Prime Minister of Jiaxing County, Zhejiang Province, felt deeply about the impracticality and cumbersomeness of the Chinese clay mold integral casting method, and was determined to reform.  In 1841, he invented the iron mold cannon casting method that was more than 30 years earlier than in Europe. The iron mold can be used multiple times without cleaning the gun bore, which eliminates the problem of multiple honeycombs in clay mold cannons that are prone to explosion.

    The shortcomings of the cannon casting shortened the cannon casting cycle and reduced the cost of cannon casting, and the "Illustrated Description of Cannon Casting Iron Molds" was written in 1842 and distributed to all coastal provinces for reference.

    There are two three-thousand-jin red-haired general cannons cast in the Tianxin Pavilion, four thousand-jin cannons, and twelve small cannons of several hundred kilograms.  Li Yiwen and others who hurried downstairs did not notice that there was actually a five-thousand-jin cannon in Tianxin Pavilion. It is said that this cannon was handed down from the late Ming Dynasty. Because no one dared to use it for so long, it was known to the red people as  Covered with cloth and lying quietly inside the building.

    After getting off the Tianxin Pavilion, the Taiping Army swarmed towards the two three-thousand-pound red-haired general cannons. Li Yiwen hurriedly shouted: "The cannons are heavy and heavy, and the gun mounts are impatient and difficult to move. Qingyao is crowding the streets. Take hundreds of kilograms of small cannons."  Just bombard it with artillery!¡±

    Everyone turned around to get the cannons. Now a team of seven or eight people carried six cannons and moved them to the wall on the side of the city. There were many miners from the Guixi Silver Mine in the Taiping Army. They were all playing red.  Those who were familiar with the medicine, and some of them were gunners who were trained later, immediately set up small cannons at the top of the city and fired fiercely at the Qing army troops pouring through the streets of the city.

    There was a burst of artillery fire at Tianxin Pavilion, and iron sand and small stone bullets caused a lot of casualties in the dense array of Qing troops.  Because the cannons had smaller calibers, the Taiping Army mostly fired shotguns composed of iron sand and small stone bullets.  It was this kind of shotgun that caused the most damage to people in artillery battles. Sometimes when the iron sand and stones ran out, the Taiping Army even used copper coins as ammunition, and the effect was the same.

    Large swaths of iron sand are falling on the ground. If you happen to be within the coverage area, it will be quite tragic. The iron sand will cause countless small wounds on your face and body. Even if you are lucky enough to be rescued, it is impossible not to take out all the iron sand.  They will accompany you for a lifetime, and you will become a pockmark.

    After two rounds of artillery fire, the Qing army suddenly became chaotic. The morale that had been built up amidst whips and curses quickly disappeared. Facing the fierce artillery fire and terrible shotguns, the Qing soldiers were caught between meager pay and their own lives.  Choosing the latter, he turned around and fled, scattering the Qing army behind him.

    Xiao Yungui, who slowly drove into the city, breathed a long sigh of relief. When he heard that Li Yiwen and Lin Qirong had occupied Tianxin Pavilion and Kuixing Tower, he was secretly glad that he had finally escaped the curse of history.  The cannonballs will never send the Western King Xiao Chaogui back to heaven again.

    Changsha, the capital of Hunan Province, is within easy reach. The combination of Xiao Yungui and Xiao Chaogui accomplished a feat. They rushed thousands of miles to attack a provincial capital and achieved such a brilliant victory despite being at a disadvantage in terms of military strength. He is now  All that needs to be done is to wipe out the remaining Qing troops.

    Xiao Yungui slowly drew out his sword, pointed at the Qing soldiers running for their lives across the street, and said loudly: "Brothers, rush over and completely wipe out the Qing demons. This city belongs to our kingdom of heaven. Take it for granted and kill them!"

    Lin Fengxiang and Li Kaifang roared loudly, and each led three hundred cavalry to chase the Qing army along the street.  Xiao Yungui did not say to charge with me this time. He cunningly chose to stay at the gate of the city. Although Tianxin Pavilion had been captured, he still did not dare to brave the artillery fire and charge. If one of the cannons accidentally tilted, he would be killed.  It was not worth it if he was killed by the explosion. He was convinced that Xi Wang Xiao Chaogui's body must be more attractive to the shells than others, so he chose to stay where he was and "command calmly."

    After Lin Fengxiang and Li Kaifang rushed up with their cavalry, Xiao Yungui ordered He Bin and Zhou Zhaoyao, who were guarding the city gate, to each lead a hundred men to the city wall to reinforce Li Yiwen and Lin Qirong. He was also afraid that the Qing army would split up and attack from the city wall.Come to Duotianxin Pavilion and Kuixing Tower, these two places must be guarded.

    After half a stick of incense, Zeng Shuiyuan, Ji Wenyuan, and Zhu Xineng arrived with a large infantry force. Xiao Yungui immediately ordered three generals to divide their forces to attack the west gate and east gate of Changsha City, and began to sweep away the remaining Qing troops in the city.

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