The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 335 I Want to Burn the Foreigners
According to the plan, the time of starting the battle was decided by Liu Shijiu independently. As long as his assault column was in place, he could start the attack.

Wu Peifu, who was still not used to smoking, coughed a few times and spoke in the dark.

"No, the foreign devils dare not stray far from their bases and positions at night. It's so dark tonight and the wind is strong. The foreign devils can't see far and can't hear anything. There will be no problem with Master Uncle."

Seeing that Teng Yuzhao was just smoking quietly and had no intention of speaking, Wu Peifu smiled and whispered.

"Teacher, Master Uncle said that you are a star from heaven who has descended to earth. I think this is very likely true."

"Look, last night the moon was still bright and the stars were sparse, but once the teacher decided to break out, the sky immediately became so dark. It would be difficult for the foreigners to find us on such a night."

Wu Peifu's flattering words made Teng Yuzao smile and scold with a smile.

"I haven't seen you learn anything good during these days of protecting the emperor, but you have improved your ability to flatter him."

Li Jinyu also said admiringly, "Marshal, I also think you are the reincarnation of a god from heaven. A few days ago, I met the chief of staff of Li Xietong and talked about the time when you rescued us at the Beiyang Wubei Academy."

"From then until now, the Marshal has made almost every possible plan. Our classmates are not only deeply grateful to the Marshal, but also admire him wholeheartedly."

Li Jinyu's words made Teng Yuzao's heart moved.

Not only the hundred or so students from the Beiyang Military Academy he rescued, but also all the people in the vanguard army who came from the Beiyang Military Academy, as well as the people from the Camp School of the Wuwei Vanguard Army. These people were not very old.

These people are officers of various levels in the vanguard army. If we can hold them firmly, then everything will be fine!

At that time, it would be absolutely impossible for anyone to take the vanguard army from him.
Just as Teng Yuzhao was still silently pondering how to keep a firm grip on these middle and low-level officers, in a sorghum field ten miles away, on a piece of land that had just been cleared.

Liu Shijiu, with his hands behind his back, looked at the rows of short cannons with their muzzles raised in front of him, frowned and said in confusion.

"Is this the secret weapon that the Marshal mentioned? Can such a small cannon be effective?"

In front of Liu Shijiu were fifty-four small, low-bodied cannons arranged in several rows.

It is absolutely correct to call it a small cannon, because the entire cannon weighs only about 100 kilograms, and Liu Shijiu can carry it away easily by himself.

The commander of the mortar battalion who was accompanying Liu Shijiu and his men smiled and whispered, "Captain, this kind of gun is called a mortar. Don't underestimate it because of its small size. It's very powerful!"

Yes, these short small cannons in front of Liu Shijiu were the famous mortars that would appear four years later.

The idea of ​​making mortars, a weapon that does not require high materials and technology, suddenly came to Teng Yuzhao when he saw a large number of gun barrels in Dongjuzi.

Having lost Dongjuzi, Teng Yuzhao was unable to manufacture cannons at all. It would be a pity to just leave those gun barrels there. Teng Yuzhao suddenly thought of the mortar, a killing weapon that had not yet appeared.

The mortar is definitely a powerful weapon. The reason why it is powerful does not refer to its large caliber and explosive power, but that the mortar is an extremely effective infantry weapon for close combat and mountain warfare.

It has many advantages, such as curved trajectory, which allows it to carry out overtaking bombardment of targets behind concealed objects as well as bombardment of close-range targets.

Moreover, mortars are quick and easy to load, have a high rate of fire, strong firepower, and excellent killing effect.

Also, because the mortar consists of only a few parts, including the barrel, gun mount, base and sight, it is much lighter and smaller than a cannon.

Therefore, it has strong mobility. Medium and small caliber mortars can be carried on the backs of people or horses, and they can fire and run away, and can quickly move positions.

In addition, due to its simple structure, convenient operation and low cost, it is easy to produce on a large scale.

Although this type of artillery is simple and cheap, and can even be said to be a simple artillery, its lethal power to personnel is not small.

According to statistics, 50% of the casualties on both sides of the war in World War II were caused by mortars, which shows how terrifying mortars are. Among the materials used to make mortars, the most demanding ones are the barrel and the shells. Now that you have the barrel, the other parts are much simpler.

The gun barrels that Teng Yuzhao obtained in Dongjuzi were all 87mm, which was slightly worse than the standard mortar caliber that was popular in later generations. But there was nothing he could do, and now Teng Yuzhao was just making use of the waste.

Therefore, the calibers of the mortars that Li Yulin and the Dongjuzi technicians who were in the camp office tried to produce according to the sketch drawn by Teng Yuzhao could only be finalized based on the caliber of the existing gun barrels they had.

Currently, the vanguard army's mortars only have the 87mm type.

Moreover, after all the gun barrels brought out from the East Bureau were used up, they only managed to produce 196 mortars.

According to Teng Yuzhao's request, these mortars were organized into seven overstaffed artillery posts, with three mortars in each squad and twenty-seven mortars in each post.

This time, Li Yulin sent six sentries, leaving one sentry to the guard unit of Liu Bingyi of the Guard Camp Office, and the remaining seven mortars were placed in the teaching team for training.

What was now in front of Liu Shijiu were the mortars of four posts, a total of 108 pieces. The firing positions of the mortars of the other two posts were not here.

This time, the assault column had to bombard three villages and towns in the shape of a Chinese character "品" where German troops were stationed at the same time, so there were three positions.

The target of these four mortar posts was the village located in the middle of the three villages, which was also the largest village. There were more than 300 households in this village. After the German army stationed there, they drove away all the villagers.

According to the investigators' report, there were nearly 6,000 German troops stationed in the village.

Liu Shijiu could doubt Teng Yuzhao's statement, but Wang Decheng and Zhu Kaishan who followed Liu Shijiu could not do so.

Although it was impossible to see the expressions on their faces in the darkness, from the fact that they were just standing there in silence, it could be seen that they were also full of doubts.

The commander of the mortar battalion continued to explain, "Although this mortar is small, its range is not short. It can reach up to twelve miles."

"This little thing can reach over ten miles away!"

Liu Shijiu was surprised by the captain's words.

The captain nodded affirmatively and said, "Not only is its range not short, it also has another advantage. It can also hit nearby targets, such as targets within 100 to 200 meters. It can do that. Theoretically, even if it wants to blow itself up, it can do that."

It can also hit targets one or two hundred meters away, which surprised Liu Shijiu again. Such a small cannon is really a good thing!

The captain added, "Also, its caliber is 87mm, which is larger than our 75mm mountain and field artillery. It is not only much more effective in killing people than the mountain artillery of the current artillery association, but even field artillery of the same caliber cannot compare to it."

"Moreover, from mortars to artillery shells, they are all made by our camp office. We not only have ordinary artillery shells, but also incendiary bombs."

The more the captain talked, the more shocked the three men were. They never expected that such a small thing could have such great power.

"it is good!"

Liu Shijiu excitedly said to the captain, "Wait for my order. When the battle starts, you should fire these incendiary bombs at the village first."

Liu Shijiu rolled up his sleeves and said, "The north wind is blowing hard tonight. I will not only burn the foreign devils, but also illuminate our attacking troops."

"After you fire the incendiary bombs, give me more artillery shells to confuse the foreigners inside, and then I will lead my men in to kill them."

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(End of this chapter)