latelenovela Chapter 573 Less-than-ideal Artillery Bombardment
Chapter 573 Less-than-ideal Artillery Bombardment
The distance between the two sides was getting closer and closer. The distance between the shield wagons and the square formation at the forefront was reduced from three miles to two miles, and from two miles to one mile, which was already within the range of field artillery.
Zuo Wuwei calmly watched the enemy. One, five, ten—more and more shield wagons came into range. He didn't give the order to fire, but waited patiently. Only when most of the hundreds of shield wagons were within optimal firing range did he decisively give the order: "Fire!"
"Boom", "Boom", "Boom"...
A thunderous roar erupted, deafeningly loud. The cannons at the two corners of the formation spewed out enormous flames, and thick smoke enveloped the surroundings. Heavy shells, propelled by the powerful force of the gunpowder, burst from the barrels and flew with a whooshing sound towards the densely packed shield wagons.
A 10-pound iron ball, carrying immense kinetic energy, pierced through the array of shield wagons. This force was beyond human resistance; even the seemingly sturdy shield wagons were no match for it. A series of loud thuds echoed as the shell struck the wooden planks in front of the shield wagons. The thick planks shattered instantly, the wagons disintegrated, sandbags were torn apart, and sand and mud flew everywhere. Those directly hit by the shells were like smashed watermelons; half their bodies were torn off, bloodied limbs and heads scattered everywhere. The rest were impaled by shards of wood and debris, becoming mangled, bloody heaps, rolling on the ground howling.
The surviving bondsers were terrified, and the speed of the carts they were pushing involuntarily slowed down. The officers behind them immediately shouted, "You dog slaves, hurry up! Anyone who stops or retreats will die!"
After a dozen or so stagnant bondsers were beheaded on the spot, the shield wagon convoy, stunned by the artillery fire, continued its advance.
After a brief respite, the second round of shelling began.
The massacre of flesh and blood by heavy artillery was repeated once again. Dozens more armored wagons were smashed to pieces by shells, and hundreds of bondservants lost their lives. The crisscrossing shells pierced through the entire armored wagon convoy at an angle, flying far away with blood and flesh before falling to the ground.
After two rounds of shelling, the originally very dense formation of shield wagons thinned out considerably. However, there were still so many shield wagons that more than a hundred of them managed to break through the artillery barrage and advance with difficulty to within 500 paces. The leading shield wagons were even only 300 paces away from the square formation.
Zuo Wuwei sighed; the insufficient number of 10-jin cannons on the front was a major weakness. He issued the order: "Fire a salvo of grapeshot from the 10-jin cannons, and prepare to launch 6-jin cannon shells from the artillery company."
Because of the angle limitation of diagonal firing, the enemy would soon enter the field gun's firing blind spot. After the order was given, the field gun positions fired one last time, this time with grapeshot.
"Boom boom boom," orange-red flames occasionally lit up in the thick smoke, and shotgun shells emerged from the smoke, exploding in the air and splitting into hundreds of small projectiles that flew toward the opponent.
A hail of metal bullets, symbols of death, flew two or three hundred meters with a whooshing sound as they landed among the convoy and the crowd.
The sounds of "crackling" and "splashing" echoed throughout, like hailstones pounding on a roof. Despite being battered and teetering, the wooden planks of the shield wagons managed to deflect many bullets, sparing many of the armored personnel who had taken cover behind them. Only a few poorly constructed and sturdy shield wagons succumbed to the dense barrage of bullets and shattered into pieces. However, the density of the shrapnel was simply too great, and the bullets were flying at an angle, so many people were still hit by bullets from the sides and fell into pools of blood.
"Damn it!" Zuo Wuwei angrily clenched his fist. At this close range, without binoculars, the results of this round of shotgun shells could be seen with the naked eye—compared to solid shot, shotgun shells, originally the natural enemy of infantry, were not very effective against armored vehicles, and this primitive version of armored vehicles played a significant role. Now it was up to them to see how effective the grenades launched from the mountain artillery would be.
The shields mitigated some of the damage from the grapeshot, and the fact that they survived such intense shelling gave the bondsers a sense of relief, while the officers in charge of command were overjoyed and shouted for the troops to quicken their pace.
"Boom boom boom," the cannon fire rang out again, thick smoke rose from the center of the formation, and dozens of shells flew over the heads of the front-line soldiers and rained down on the enemy.
After several years of use and improvement, the yield rate of grenades has reached a high level, from an initial detonation probability of only 60-70% to about 90% now. A grenade that landed in the crowd bounced a few times before being detonated by a time-delay fuse. The shockwave from the explosion knocked people over within a three- to four-meter radius, and the shrapnel, like bullets, reaped lives. Those who had just been thankful to have dodged the shrapnel fell in droves amidst the flying fragments.
However, fearing friendly fire on their comrades in the front ranks, the four artillery companies unanimously adjusted their firing angles. The shells, originally intended to land at around 300 meters, were extended to over 400 meters, with the furthest reaching 500 meters, exceeding the range of the shield wagon formation. Many of these shells actually affected the infantry archers in the rear. The archers, who had assumed the shield wagons would protect them, watched helplessly as the shells rained down and exploded. Shrapnel sliced through their thin leather armor, embedding itself deeply in their bodies. The archers screamed in agony, falling one after another into pools of blood.
Although things were dark in the east but bright in the west, a small portion of the grenades originally intended for the shield wagons hit the archers. At least some people were hit, but Zuo Wuwei still held his head in frustration—this round of shelling was not satisfactory and had not achieved its tactical objective. He had overestimated the accuracy of the artillery's use of grenades. This round of shelling was much less effective than expected. The shield wagons that survived this round of shelling were now moving freely, and several shield wagons had reached the range of rifles. They were too close and in the blind spot of the artillery, so they could not be hit by the cannons no matter what.
However, Zuo Wuwei was unwilling to blame the artillery company in the rear. Relying solely on manpower and the naked eye, no one could guarantee that the landing point of the launched shells would be accurate to within one or two hundred meters. If a mistake occurred and the shell landed within one hundred meters in front of the formation, the shrapnel could injure the soldiers in the front ranks. If they died from their own shells, it would be a huge blow to the morale of the soldiers, and no one could bear that responsibility.
Zuo Wuwei sighed and ordered all artillery crews to evacuate their positions and take cover in the center of the formation.
His subordinate asked, puzzled, "Commander, if we can't hit these wooden carts, can't we hit the horsemen behind them? Why are we retreating?"
Zuo Wuwei pointed to the archers following closely behind the shield wagon and said, "See these archers? Before you can even fire your cannons at the cavalry, their arrows will send you to meet the King of Hell."