Add Bookmark | Recommend this book | Back to the book page | My bookshelf | Mobile Reading

Free Web Novel,Novel online - All in oicq.net -> Historic -> chinese fourth empire

Text Chapter 63 Fierce artillery fire

Previous page        Return to Catalog        Next page

    On the wall of Maqin City, there was a commotion among the Qingma Army defenders. Looking at the row of cannons outside the city, they felt infinite fear in their hearts.  The slightly raised ferocious muzzle is like the mouth of a monster that wants to devour people.  Many Qingma troops know the power of the Western Sichuan Army's artillery. Although many people have not seen it with their own eyes, they also know how powerful the Western Sichuan Army's artillery is from word of mouth.  They are absolutely unwilling to try it themselves.  However, the order they received now was to defend Maqin City, which made these defenders fall into despair.

    "We only have 4,000 people, but the Western Sichuan Army outside the city has 20,000 people! How can we defend Maqin?" Many Qingma Army soldiers thought in despair.

    The changes that occurred at Ximen also attracted the attention of Wei Yuan, commander of the 15th Battalion of the Qingma Army stationed here. At the same time, Lu Haoran, commander of the 5th Battalion, also arrived.  However, as soon as they saw the posture of the Western Sichuan Army, their faces became so gloomy that they could shed tears.  They were also very unsure about whether they could withstand the Western Sichuan Army's attack.

    "General, the Western Sichuan Army is about to attack the city. It seems that my place is the focus of their attack!" Wei Yuan's face turned pale.

    "I will order other troops to be ready to support you here at any time!" Lu Haoran said with a serious face.

    "General, we alone cannot withstand the attack of the Western Sichuan Army. We should have someone notify the Admiral and ask him to come to the rescue as soon as possible!" Wei Yuan suggested.  Now it seems that only with the arrival of reinforcements can it be possible to break the siege of Maqin.

    "The Admiral's troops are already on the way. Calculating the time, they will arrive tomorrow or the day after tomorrow!" Lu Haoran said.  However, he also had a worry in his mind.  If Ma Haiyan had to wait until the Hezhou Majia Army and the Ningma Army arrived together before attacking the Western Sichuan Army, then Ma Qin might have to hold on for more time.  And there is simply no way to do it with the four thousand defenders of Ma Qin.

    When he heard that the reinforcements were coming, Wei Yuan's face looked much better.

    Outside the city, at the artillery position of the Western Sichuan Army, the artillerymen were busy. A large number of artillery shells were carried out and piled on the side of the cannon to facilitate loading of the artillery shells faster during fierce shelling.  According to artillery regulations, this is not allowed.  Because once it is hit by enemy artillery, it will cause very heavy losses.  The place where the shells are piled is some distance from the cannon.  However, to deal with the Qing Ma Army, which does not even have two artillery pieces, there is no need to strictly follow the regulations for the time being.

    When the time reached nine o'clock, all preparations were done.  Zhou Nan, commander of the 10th Brigade Artillery Battalion, looked at the time and then issued the order to prepare for the artillery attack.  When the artillerymen loaded the shells into the barrels one by one, the faces of the Qingma Army subordinates at the top of Maqin City turned pale.

    "Get off the city wall quickly, the Western Sichuan Army is about to start shelling!" Wei Yuan, the commander of the 15th Battalion of the Qingma Army, ordered loudly.  Still staying on the city wall at this time is undoubtedly a living target for the Western Sichuan Army's artillery fire.

    After hearing Wei Yuan's order, the soldiers of the Qingma Army gathered on the city wall ran swarm down the city.  No one wants to be baptized by the artillery fire of the Western Sichuan Army on the city wall.  Everyone knows this is a fatal thing!

    At this panic moment, the artillery of the Western Sichuan Army opened fire.  One after another, the Type 82 infantry cannons erupted with fierce fire and loud noises, and a sharp sound broke through the air.  A few seconds later, there was a violent explosion on the walls of Maqin City.  There were fires, smoke, and shrapnel flying.  Those Qingma Army soldiers who had not had time to retreat under the city wall suffered.  Either they were blown up into the air and fell to death at the foot of the city, or their lives were directly harvested by shrapnel.

    The artillery fire of the Western Sichuan Army was very fierce. The loaders loaded the cannons with shells one by one and quickly fired towards the top of Maqin City.  In the blink of an eye, there were no living things on the city wall. After the cannonball exploded on the city wall, stone debris flew everywhere. Every explosion would form a gap in the city wall.

    The city wall of Maqin is made of a mixture of stone and soil. Although it is strong, it still looks so pale and weak when faced with the bombardment of cannons.  If this continues, it will only be a matter of time before Maqin's city wall is blown down.

    In Maqin City, the soldiers of the Qingma Army lay on the ground shivering with their heads in their hands.  The artillery bombardment of the Western Sichuan Army seemed to be destroying the sky and the earth, frightening their faces to the color of earth.  Those Qingma Army soldiers who had not had time to retreat under the city wall had already returned to the embrace of God.

    "General, the artillery fire of the Western Sichuan Army is too fierce. It seems that the city wall will be blown down?" Wei Yuan looked at the fire on the top of the city and said with some worry.  During the shelling just now, at least two to three hundred men of his 15th Battalion were wiped out, which reduced his army to almost a quarter in one go!  If this goes on for a few more rounds, all of his troops will be dead!

      "We have to hold on even if we can't hold on! The Admiral's order is that we defend Maqin City. I believe the Admiral will come as soon as possible!" Lu Haoran said with a gloomy face.  If he had known earlier, he should not have agreed to Gu Hongqiang's request to rescue Yushu. In that case, Maqin City would still have 10,000 defenders.  With such a powerful force, it would be easy to defend Maqin City.  And now?  After Gu Hongqiang took away most of the troops, there were only four thousand people left in Maqin City. It seemed like a wishful thinking to rely on this small number of troops to withstand the fierce attack of the Western Sichuan Army.

    "The first company changed to high-explosive bombs, and the artillery fire extended into the city. The second company changed to armor-piercing bombs, and the city wall collapsed!" Zhou Nan, commander of the Artillery Battalion of the 10th Brigade of the Western Sichuan Army, adjusted his tactics.  The purpose of bombarding Maqin City with high-explosive bombs was undoubtedly to kill a large number of the Qingma Army's effective forces. Anyway, the people in the city had mostly escaped, and there was no need to worry about hurting innocent people.  Armor-piercing bullets are a powerful weapon against solid city walls.  In this era of China, many cities were surrounded by thick city walls. Every time they attacked a city, the Western Sichuan Army would suffer heavy casualties in order to scale the tall city walls.  For this reason, the arsenal of the Western Sichuan Army specifically developed armor-piercing projectiles to deal with city walls.  Generally fired by a 105mm howitzer or 155mm howitzer.  The Type 82 infantry gun also has specialized armor-piercing projectiles, but they are not as powerful as large-caliber armor-piercing projectiles.

    The armor-piercing projectile used by the Type 82 infantry gun weighs six kilograms, has a sharp warhead, and is made of fine steel. Although the charge is only one kilogram, it is very destructive to solid targets such as city walls. It is the Western Sichuan Army's answer to the Qing Dynasty.  A useful weapon for building strong walls or fortresses.

    Because the artillery fire of the Western Sichuan Army had to be adjusted to adjust the bombardment target, the artillery fire of the Western Sichuan Army temporarily stopped, which made the Qingma Army in Maqin City breathe a sigh of relief.  The fierce artillery fire from the Western Sichuan Army just now caused them to experience cruel suffering, and many of their faces were pale and pale.

    However, their luck did not last long before it disappeared, and the Western Sichuan Army's artillery fire started again.  This time, a company of 12 Type 82 infantry artillery targeted the city of Maqin. Every time an artillery shell exploded, there would be violent flames. The house that was hit collapsed and then burned.  If the artillery shell unfortunately falls among the soldiers of the Qing Ma Army, it will take away the lives of countless Qing Ma Army soldiers.

    The other 12 cannons aimed their muzzles at the walls of Maqin City.  Twelve cannons were aimed at the bottom of a twenty-meter-long section of the city wall, loaded with armor-piercing shells, and prepared to blow down this section of the city wall.

    When the fire erupted from the muzzle, the blazing shells quickly hit Maqin City.  The tough warhead smashed deeply into the city wall, causing a violent explosion and directly blasting a large hole in the wall of Maqin City.  Although the wall of Maqin City was more than one meter behind, it was obvious that it could not hold on for long under the fierce bombardment of the Western Sichuan Army's artillery fire.

    Behind the artillery battalion are soldiers from the 11th Brigade of the Western Sichuan Army.  The artillery battalion's performance greatly shocked them, and they were all dumbfounded.  Many of them were once defenders of Maqin City.  In their minds, Maqin City is considered very strong.  But now, under the artillery fire of the Western Sichuan Army, Maqin City is already crumbling.  This made those who were not very willing to join the Western Sichuan Army once again recognize the reality.

    PS: The first update is here, please vote for favorites and recommendations!

    ;

    {Piaotia Literature www.piaotia.net thanks all book friends for their support, your support is our greatest motivation}
Didn't finish reading? Add this book to your favoritesI'm a member and bookmarked this chapterCopy the address of this book and recommend it to your friends for pointsChapter error? Click here to report