Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 251: Showing off your power in battle
The Ming Dynasty's Portuguese rifle was usually operated by two to three people, who could be divided into a shooter (assistant shooter) and an ammunition loader.

The Portuguese cannon was loaded with sub-cannons (sub-guns), which was the prototype of the later integrated artillery shells. It was extremely fast to load and its firing speed was far beyond that of ordinary artillery.

However, although the Portuguese gun is a breech-loading artillery, its range is not far. This is because the sealing performance of the gap between the sub-gun and the barrel is poor, which is its biggest flaw.

Later, some experts in the Ming Dynasty said that the Portuguese cannon could fire at a range of 3000 meters. This is nonsense. It is impossible. You have to know how many meters the Red Cannon weighing more than one ton can fire at? Even if it is fired at a 500-degree elevation angle, the Red Cannon's effective range is only 1500 meters, and the maximum range is meters.

The Portuguese gun generally weighs less than 3000 kilograms and is just a light gun. How could it have an ultra-long range of 2500 meters? You should know that the range of light mortars in later generations is only about meters. If the Portuguese gun has a range longer than that of light mortars, it is simply outrageous. Mortars use modern gunpowder, while Portuguese guns use black gunpowder. The design, structure, manufacturing process and performance of the two are very different.

Generally speaking, the effective range of the Portuguese cannon is about 200 meters, and the maximum range is about 300 meters. Although this range is much lower than that of the Red Cannon, it is still sufficient for use today. Compared with the range and power of bows and arrows, the Portuguese cannon has a significant advantage.

As the cannon sounded, the two Portuguese machine guns began to fire, one shot after another. The gunner in charge of loading quickly took out the fired sub-gun from the belly of the gun, then put in a new sub-gun, and then the shooter operated it to fire again.

The biggest advantage of the Portuguese gun is that it is fired with a sub-gun, which is extremely fast. If a skilled loader does not consider aiming and other steps of firing, it only takes a very short time to replace the sub-gun. It is easy to fire three times in a minute, and even faster, firing five or six times.

When Zhu Shenzhui ordered the artillery to fire, the Mongolian cavalry that were charging towards them had already retreated to a distance of 200 meters from their position. Seeing that the other side showed no signs of stopping, it seemed that in their eyes, the opponent had already been defeated, and they did not take the sudden appearance of such a group of people seriously at all.

It was ridiculous for a few dozen Ming merchants to use a few carriages for defense. What use could these wooden things have? The Mongolian cavalry was invincible. If they rushed forward directly, Zhu Shenzhui's front line would definitely collapse. Once they rushed into the defense formation, these Ming people would be no different from lambs to be chopped off. They could be killed cleanly in a few breaths.

But the Mongols never expected that just as they were licking their lips, with heat flashing in their eyes and their blood boiling, and they were urging their horses to speed up, and they even seemed to hear in advance the screams of these Ming people falling in a pool of blood and crying and struggling, suddenly two balls of red and yellow flames suddenly lit up in the carriage in front of them, followed by the sound of cannons like thunder.

The Mongolians at the front hadn't reacted yet, and they felt like they were hit by a high-speed train, and they flew backwards along with the horses under them. At the same time, their souls seemed to float directly into the sky, getting higher and higher from the ground, as if Changshengtian had given them wings, and then they knew nothing.

The Mongols who were directly hit were lucky because they lost their lives in an instant, and their bodies were torn into pieces by the shells without suffering any pain. Unfortunately, there were several Mongols who were hit by the shells but did not die immediately. They did not react at all. After the loud bang, they fell off their horses before they understood what was happening. Some of them lost their arms, some broke their legs, and some lost half of their bodies but did not die for a while. After a short period of silence, they were hit by extremely severe pain, accompanied by great fear of death, and could not help but screaming.

After giving the order to open fire, Zhu Shenzui handed over the battlefield command to Lao Jin. Compared with the experienced Lao Jin, he had no problem handling gunfights on his own, but for real combat he still had to rely on veterans like Lao Jin.

Although the command was transferred, Zhu Shenzui was not idle. He squatted on the car, picked up a bird gun beside him, and was ready to provide support at any time.

Lao Jin is indeed a veteran of the Qi Family Army. As a former sentry leader, he is no stranger to commanding such battle formations.

Following his command, the two Portuguese cannons fired alternately, catching the Mongols on the opposite side off guard. In a blink of an eye, the Mongolian cavalry on the front lost more than a dozen people, and the remaining Mongols were shocked and subconsciously reined in their horses. They huddled together in a mess for a while, not knowing whether they should continue to sprint or turn around and flee.

It happened in a flash. After several consecutive artillery fire, the Mongolian cavalry became even more chaotic. The Mongolian leader on the opposite side shouted loudly, tried to reorganize the troops, and called on his men to prepare to break through Zhu Shencui's defense line from both wings.

But how could Lao Jin let them do what they wanted at this time? He decisively issued an order, and the four teams began to deploy in front of the enemy with chariots as cover. Instead of retreating, they advanced slowly towards the Mongols in front of them.

The distance between the two sides was not far, and if they ran fast it would only take a short time. If they used cavalry to sprint, the speed would be even faster.

Before the Mongols could regroup, Lao Jin and his men pushed the front line forward more than 30 meters. As the distance shortened, the two sides were only about 150 meters apart. At this distance, the power and accuracy of the Portuguese guns were more effective. After a few shots, the Mongols who were trying to regroup were directly dispersed. In a blink of an eye, several more people fell. All the Mongols panicked instantly. "It's just the Ming people's firearms, don't be afraid! They can't fire a few shots, just charge in! As long as we charge in, we will win!"

The Mongolian leader found it difficult to reorganize his troops because there was not enough time to change tactics. If the Ming people continued to fire, he would only be able to take the beating.

Seeing this, the enemy leader was not stupid either. He knew that the greatest advantage of cavalry besides speed was impact force. In this situation, he must not stop and must change tactics immediately. The only choice was to continue to charge head-on. As long as they broke through the thin defense line formed by the Ming people on the battlefield and the two sides engaged in hand-to-hand combat, the enemy's artillery would be useless and victory would belong to them.

Thinking of this, the leader shouted without hesitation, and the other Mongols came back to their senses instantly. They had no time to reorganize the formation, and each drove their horses to rush directly to the front line.

At this time, the Portuguese cannon on Zhu Shenzhui's side fired two consecutive shots, but because the distance began to shorten and the Portuguese cannon took time to reload even if it was fast, after two shots, the Mongolian cavalry was less than 50 meters away from the defense line, and it seemed that they could break through the chariot defense line with just a little more effort.

But at this moment, as the whistle in Lao Jin's mouth suddenly sounded, the folding door of the chariot opened outwards, and the soldiers who were ready for battle moved. The soldiers holding wolf-whips were in front, the shieldmen provided side coverage, the hammermen and spearmen were behind, and at the very end were the musketeers.

The wolf-whip was invented by Qi Jiguang and is also the most important weapon in the Mandarin Duck Formation.

At first, the wolf-whip was made of bamboo and was roasted over fire based on large bamboo. This was because the Qi Family Army was born in the south, and the Mandarin Duck Formation's tactics were originally aimed at the Japanese pirates. In the south of the Yangtze River, bamboo was everywhere, so it was very convenient to obtain the material.

But it is different in the north. There is not much bamboo in the north, so it is inconvenient to use bamboo to make wolf whisks. Moreover, although the wolf whisks made of bamboo are not bad, they are easily damaged during use. After a battle, the wolf whisk is almost useless, and a new one must be made later.

This problem is not a problem in the south, because materials can be obtained everywhere without any effort. But it is different in the north. Once the wolf-whip is damaged, how can we fight the next battle? We can't go to the south to get materials and then transport them back, right? Moreover, the wolf-whip is large in size and is easily damaged during transportation, so it must be replaced with other materials.

Therefore, when the Qi family army was guarding the border later, they made improvements and changed the original wolf-whip made of bamboo to a wolf-whip made of a combination of wood and fine iron. In this way, the material of the wolf-whip was no longer a problem, and the improved wolf-whip was more powerful and more convenient to carry than the one made of bamboo. When using it, just unfold it like an umbrella. The inverted pillar made of fine iron has extremely sharp spikes, and it is specially smeared with poison. If the enemy is touched casually, even if he does not die, he will be in great danger.

Because the Mongols were caught off guard, their previous charge was interrupted, and now their subsequent charge no longer had the initial speed.

It takes distance and time for a warhorse to accelerate, and a distance of just a few dozen meters is not enough to achieve this level. It must be said that Lao Jin has a wealth of experience in battlefield command, and his intention to advance just now was also for this reason. When the Mongols decided to charge again, Lao Jin did not move his troops at first, until the Mongols' warhorses were about the last twenty meters, and then he decisively counterattacked.

The timing was just right, the wolf-whip was raised high and blocked directly in front of the chariot. The wolf-whip flashed with cold light and was extremely sharp in the sunlight. The Mongolian horses did not form the strongest impact force for a while because their speed had not yet increased. In addition, the threat of the wolf-whip made the horses subconsciously slow down their pace out of fear. The charge did not even increase in speed when it suddenly turned into a jog. When it arrived, many horses even stopped and refused to move forward no matter how their masters drove them.

The Mongols were terrified. They had never expected such a situation to happen. When they decided to charge directly, they only considered breaking through these broken carts. As long as they rushed in, they would win. But this situation was beyond the expectations of these Mongols. When the cavalry lost their speed in the war, they completely lost their advantage.

At this time, Lao Jin was not idle. The two Portuguese machine guns continued to fire, and the bird gunners behind him also began to shoot at the Mongols in front. At such a close distance, the power and accuracy of both the Portuguese machine guns and the bird guns were greatly improved, and facing the Mongolian cavalry who had lost speed and were huddled together, there was no need to aim at all, just fire in the general direction.

The Mongols on the other side were in a terrible state. How could flesh and blood compare to artillery and muskets? Although the Mongols reacted quickly, when the horses stopped for a while and could not start again, some Mongols had already taken out bows and arrows and shot arrows in this direction.

Unfortunately, the arrows shot by the Mongols, who were known for their unparalleled archery and horsemanship, had no effect. The Mandarin Duck Formation and the Chariot Camp Tactics had already judged this. You must know that this tactic was invented by Qi Jiguang, who relied on this tactic to sweep the world and was invincible in hundreds of battles. How could these simple-minded Mongols easily crack it?

(End of this chapter)